Easter Offensive

Globalization41 · #16

Hi Bob. ... The Vietnam War was just a bump in the road. America was in no way weakened after strategically retreating from Southeast Asia. Strategic Air Command (SAC) still maintained a massive bomber force and ground-based inter-continental missiles inside the U.S. ready to retaliate in case of sneak attack. U.S. Navy subs patrolled the oceans. The Soviet-U.S. demarcation line in Europe bristled from north to south with atomic missiles manned by the U.S. & Red Army. U.S. and NATO warplanes remained on full alert, ready to launch instantly and within a few minutes of Warsaw Pact concentrations. ... I'm not convinced Boeing's prosperity depends on factories outside of America. ... Actually Medicare and Social Security recirculate wealth within America and stimulate the economy. More hospitals, housing, transportation, food, bridges, roads, etc., are needed. It's the venture capitalists who would siphon wealth from the U.S. by redistributing wealth creation away from America, a deceptive form of world socialism.

4/29/1972, N. Vietnamese Lay Siege to Quang Tri, B-52s Pour Bombs on Attackers, U.S. Destroyers Blaze Away at Enemy, Part 1

4/29/1972, N. Vietnamese Lay Siege to Quang Tri, B-52s Pour Bombs on Attackers, U.S. Destroyers Blaze Away at Enemy, Part 2

4/29/1972, By James Reston, Will the Russians Heed Nixon's Signal on Hanoi?

4/29/1972; Reggie Jackson Breaks Slump, Lifts A's Over Brewers; Holtzman Hurls Five-Hitter; A's Strand 13

4/29/1972, Refugees by the Thousands Trudge out of Quang Tri as North Vietnamese Close In

4/29/1972; Astronauts Sailing for Hawaii, Pass Detailed Medical Examination Given on Board Aircraft Carrier

4/29/1972, U.S. Tests Parachute for Mars Landing in Mojave Desert

Globalization41.

South · #17

Good morning Globe,

In chron order - with as much context as appropriate and realistic for this substitute for a hotel conference room in the eg Italian lakes area, the Canadian Rockies or an Asian resort location;

Yes, the Vietnam War was just a "bump in the road". The US lost the Vietnam War but the US won the Second Indochina War.....allowing me to say the US did NOT - strategically - retreat from Southeast Asia. Thus, overall, concur.

Completely concur. The US Strategic Air Command ("SAC") and the rest of the nuclear triade was the world's state of the art and more lethal than the USSR's.

Boeing's prosperity did require a large industrial presence in China. The economic threat...in business terms, the contractual requirement...was that a percentage of Chinese labor and locally-produced components must be produced in China or Beijing would look at AirBus sales literature.

In a strict sense using narrow definitions of economic concepts, Medicare and Social Security disbursements do recirculate wealth within the US. In the more accurate sense involving concepts and doctrines of political economy, the recirculation is non-productive. The US economy is not stimulated by these transfer payments.

In the broad sense, concur re venture capitalists but not acceptable at AHF to present their various......er...their economic programs.

Warm regards,

Bob

Globalization41 · #18

Hi Bob. ... Strategic retreat is just another way of saying Congress pulled the plug on Vietnam and the U.S. left. ... It's in China's strategic interest to own and make their own airplanes. If Boeing is in China, they'll eventually be squeezed out. ... Recirculation of wealth is less non-productive than transferring wealth away from the U.S. in the form of factories.

4/29/1972, Agnew Debates University of Maine Students

4/29/1972, Reds Cut Supply Line to Quang Tri, U.S. Air Power Slows Advance, U.S. Advisor Reports S. Vietnamese Fleeing

4/29/1972, Screaming U.S. Jets & S. Vietnamese Skyraiders Bomb Outskirts of Quang Tri, Bodies & Parts of Bodies Liter Highway 1

4/29/1972, Renewed Red Offensive Raises Chopper Losses, Every Flight Below 3,000 Feet is Nightmare, Part 1

4/29/1972, Renewed Red Offensive Raises Chopper Losses, Every Flight Below 3,000 Feet is Nightmare, Part 2

4/29/1972, Commies Eye Thailand, Communist Terrorism Directed at Key Officials, Small Cells Now Dot Heartland of Thailand

4/29/1972, Hickman Subs for Ailing Pepitone & Belts Pair of Three-Run HRs as Cubs Top Mets 10-8, Cubs Manager Durocher Back

Globalization41.

South · #19

Good morning Globe,

Within the topic "Easter Offensive", there was no strategic retreat. After Shanghai I, the US was still present on the southern periphery of China - and inside China, economically speaking.

Congress had to retreat from Vietnam. The US domestic political disturbances (Key term: "Operation Garden Plot" [US Army riot control augmentation to US police departments -USMC also involved]) were too devastating.

Yes, eventually Boeing will be forced out of China. It is a trade-off. Without the current "breathing space" of major production in China, Boeing would have realistically enough gone into receivership because of competive AirBus and increasing US domestic labor costs.

It's the big question of today (and thus ineligible for discussion here) re "Recirculation of wealth away from the U.S........."

Warm regards,

Bob

Globalization41 · #20

Hi. Bob. ... Nixon wanted to turn the war over to South Vietnam by withdrawing U.S. infantry troops. By 1972, redeployment of U.S. ground troops had left the South weaker, adding another negative to it's ongoing operational inefficiency and lack of motivation due to corruption. To defend the U.S. withdrawal while supporting the South, Nixon provided U.S. air support and military equipment for the South Vietnamese Army. This worked until Nixon's support in Congress began to wane due to the Watergate Scandal, resulting in Congress setting a funding deadline of August 15, 1973, for combat missions. ... The U.S. air counteroffensive blocked the North's aggression in 1972, but in 1975, without U.S. air support, the South collapsed quickly when the North launched their final offensive. Laos and Cambodia fell to communist forces also. However (thanks to Johnson & Nixon) Thailand did not fall to communist expansion, which lost steam due to overextension, excesses in Cambodia, and intra-regional rivalries. ... South Korea, with water on three sides, was more easily defended against communism. ... Japan was not difficult to defend against Soviet aggression. It was an island with a protectionist economy. ... West Germany had two choices: the U.S. (prosperity) or the U.S.S.R. (slavery).

4/29/1972, Communist Units Shatter South Vietnamese Lines, B-52s Blunt North's Advance on Quang Tri, then Turn to Hue

4/29/1972, Expos Trip Giants 8-6, Mike Marshall Gets Victory in Relief, Kingman HR, Henderson HR, Bonds Triple

Note: Mike Marshall threw 208 inning in relief in 1974 for the Dodgers, appearing in 106 games, winning 15, losing 12, and compiling a 2.42 ERA.

4/29/1972, U.S. Spent $17.73 Billion on Welfare in 1971

4/29/1972, Vida Blue ('71 Cy Young Winner at 24-8, 1.82 ERA, 24 CGs) Declines Finley Offer, Ready to Work in Business or Acting

Globalization41.

South · #21

Good afternoon Globe,

I am familiar with presented material.

I do want to add one key point even if only for clarity.

South Vietnam's "problem" was not just operational inefficiency and lack of motivation/corruption. Imbedded throughout the South Vietnamese government (and society)-and especially the Army of Vietnam ("ARVN")-were "sleeper" people with allegiance to North Vietnam.

Warm regards,

Bob